ADDRESS BY CORRECTIONAL SERVICES DEPUTY MINISTER,
HONOURABLE MS HLENGIWE MKHIZE, MP, AT THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF CATHOLIC PRISON
PASTORAL CARE (ICCPPC) AFRICA REGIONAL CONFERENCE:
CAPE TOWN, 12 OCTOBER 2009
Chairperson, Rev Gilmore Fry
Vice President of the ICCPPC, Rev Gowans
Inspecting Judge of Correctional Services, Judge Van Zyl
Archbishop of Pretoria, Archbishop Khumalo
Archbishop Henry
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is indeed a great pleasure to be here today to explore questions
fundamental to the success of modern correctional services in Africa
and around the globe.
I am humbled to share my thoughts with such a distinguished
audience which has a vision to build strong partnerships and spiritual
bonds, vital for building and protecting peaceful, just and safe
communities. We thank the leadership of the International
Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care (ICCPPC) for creating
the space we are occupying today.
We must also commend the leadership most heartily for choosing the
beautiful City of Cape Town for the All-Africa Conference”.
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It makes us all proud that the All-Africa Conference is hosted by the
South African Catholic Bishops Conference which has over the years
played a significant role in the struggle for the creation of a just and
peaceful society that respects the rights of every person to human
dignity, equality and freedom.
I have been asked to give an input on the topic that says: “Does
Pastoral Care Link into the broader aspects of rehabilitation and
reintegration?” Having given this topic some deep thought, my view
is that Pastoral Care is central to the journey of the offenders from the
time they get into conflict with the police force.
It is not only the offender who is affected by the impact of arrest. The
effects of arrest are also felt by the family and friends. House arrest
and being asked to handover passports are some of the measures
which could be life-threatening. In some cases, arrest can even
induce psychosomatic illnesses and signs of stress-related mental
confusion and suicidal behaviour.
Given the adversarial nature of court proceedings, the justice system
can be very traumatic. During this crucible the offender’s resilience is
severely tested and challenged. Sentencing and sometimes the harsh
remarks accompanying it induce high levels of anxiety and stress and
the person’s worldview is deconstructed.
A jailed offender coming to terms with the devastating results of his or
her actions is like a body “emptied of all content”. Borrowing another
phrase from Steve Biko, the incarcerated person is like an “empty
shell”.
As part of our transformation of the South African system of
corrections, we have argued very strongly in the 2005 White Paper
on Corrections that rehabilitation is a societal responsibility.
The White Paper on Corrections, which was approved by the Cabinet
in 2004, presents a clear policy break with the past history of
correctional services in South Africa.
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In the past, no attention was paid to assisting those in conflict with the
law. The focus was largely on keeping offenders safely behind the
bars with no attempt at correcting criminal behavior. As a result,
many offenders were condemned to a life of perpetual crime and
incarceration as they were likely to re-offend.
The past dehumanizing treatment of offenders which is reminiscent of
the ancient doctrine of using punishment as a “public spectacle”,
meant to set an example for all members of society, was studied
carefully and explained by social scientist Michel Foucault in
Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Foucault observed as
follows:
“The criminal, designated as the enemy of all, whom it is in the
interest of all to track him down, falls outside the pact, disqualifies
himself as a citizen, and emerges, bearing within him as it were, a
wild fragment of nature; he appears as a villain, a monster, a
madman, perhaps, a sick and, before long, ‘abnormal’ individual”
(1977: 101).
The White Paper on Corrections directs us to take the offender on a
carefully guided offender rehabilitation path, from the shattering
moment of admission right up to the point of release and full
reintegration back into society. Our new mandate compels us to
reconstruct a person’s sense of self, attitudes towards the other and
the world.
The President of the Republic of South Africa, President Jacob Zuma,
has emphasised this important task during the Inaugural Jacob Zuma
Matsushima Karate Club, in Durban on the 8th of August this year. He
said that:
“After learning from their mistakes, the prisoners must be assisted
and given an opportunity to live productive and fulfilling lives like all of
us. They must be direct examples in their communities and spread
the message that crime does not pay. After all, this is how our noble
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document, the Freedom Charter, saw the role of prisons in a free and
democratic South Africa, as rehabilitative centres”.
President Zuma urged all of us to ensure that correctional centres
“should not be places where those who have committed offences
against society [are] turned into hardened criminals without a chance
of being rehabilitated”.
All these are in keeping with our Constitution which has an
entrenched Bill of Rights that guarantees the rights of all South
Africans including the offenders.
Section 35 of the Constitution protects the rights of “arrested,
detained and accused persons”. It stipulates that anyone arrested on
a charge of allegedly committing an offence is entitled to be released
from detention if the interests of justice permit subject to reasonable
conditions. The said persons have a right “to conditions of detention
that are consistent with human dignity” and have “a right to a fair
trial”.
We have taken specific measures to ensure that these constitutional
requirements are attended to, including mandating the Office of the
Inspecting Judge to facilitate the inspection of correctional centres in
order that the Inspecting Judge may report on the treatment of
inmates and on the conditions in correctional centres.
Because of the role the Judge’s office is playing, we have received
several requests from offenders asking us to look at our parole
system, amnesty, accommodation, nutrition and other matters.
Admittedly, we still have similar challenges as those experienced
before we attained democracy. Therefore, people of faith of all
religions are supposed to be the MORAL AUTHORITY of the most
vulnerable. Pastoral care, in defence of our democracy, will have to
lend this moral authority, be vigilant and pronounce on perceived
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violations of the Constitution and some provisions of our Correctional
Services Act.
We expect the church and other faith-based organisations to take a
strong stand when deaths in correctional centres are reported and
when offenders are deprived of other rights and privileges such as
parole. There are certainly lessons to be learnt from the Faith
Hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), as
presented in Volume IV, Chapter 3 of the Reports of the TRC.
The Commission acknowledged the role played by some church
leaders but also made a finding against those churches which
colluded with government agencies and those who were complacent
and did not condemn the government for violations of rights of
imprisoned people.
International experience has also shown that Faith communities have
a pivotal role to play in society. I have just returned from Australia
where I had the opportunity to interact with my counterparts and to
visit their correctional facilities. We went to the EMU Plains
Correctional Centre and the Alexander Maconochie Centre. What
became clear is that the Chaplaincy has an important role to play in
the spiritual life and general wellbeing of offenders.
Pastoral care does not only link with aspects of rehabilitation and
reintegration. It goes beyond that. It sits at the very heart of correcting
offending behaviour. Realising this fact should bring us closer to
answering the essential question imbedded in the theme of the AllAfrica Conference, that is: “Prison Pastoral Care, Whose
responsibility?”
Spiritual care is primarily the responsibility and task of the church and
faith-based organisations. The church has a definite role to play in the
rehabilitation of offenders. In our country, through 41 chaplains and 2
164 spiritual workers who do correctional ministry, churches and faith
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communities are expected to fulfil a unique role in ministering to their
members behind the bars.
I would like to emphasise that we will benefit more from the
Chaplaincy which will not only see offenders as sinners, but also as
those who will scrutinize the conditions under which our offenders are
kept. The Chaplaincy should continue to give care and love.
The church can take part in several activities related to pastoral care,
including:
 Ministering to offenders in the correctional centres by visiting
their members and other offenders;
 Appointing spiritual workers;
 Offering spiritual care programmes and services;
 Giving support to the families of offenders;
 Supporting the victims of offenders;
 Distributing spiritual and religious literature; and
 Assisting offenders with their reintegration back into society.
The church and faith communities have a crucial role to play in
advancing restorative justice. For instance, spiritual workers must
take the lead in creating peace in our communities by reconciling
affected parties and in healing the wounds of crime. It is through
offender-victim encounters that confession, repentance and
reparation could move everybody towards healing.
During the post-release phase, through pastoral care, the church can
reinforce social reintegration efforts of governments by helping to find
suitable occupations or jobs for ex-offenders. The Chaplaincy should
provide coaching and support to offenders who are interested in
becoming entrepreneurs or employees in the case of those who have
found jobs.
The religious community may also provide assistance in reaching out
to those offenders affected and infected by the scourge of HIV/Aids.
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The challenge for this conference should include deciding how best to
reinforce support for this special ministry and its unique set of
challenges. This is not only a question of establishing the link, but of
exploring powerful ways of using pastoral care to promote full
rehabilitation and reintegration. These efforts must include using
modern ideas on offender industries. As a department, we have to
pursue legislative mandate on this aspect, as products and opened
markets will accelerate reintegration.
On behalf of the government and people of South Africa, we wish you
all a successful and memorable conference.
Through your efforts, we can redeem Africa and the world from the
malady of moral degeneration. With your spiritual leadership, together
we can do more to turn the world into a better place to live in. Above
everything, your compassionate gestures will restore offenders’
dignity, sense of hope and purpose for the future.
May you be guided in your deliberations by the message from
Hebrews 13:3: “Remember those who are in prison, as though you
were in prison with them.”
I thank you.